>Why the raised eyebrow?
>
>Carrol
It seemed clear to me that you were interested in finding out what goes on elsewhere--and I think comparing and getting ideas from what others are doing is a great idea.
However, I can also see why the query could have been interpreted as a kind of Activist Street Cred Test. Yanno? It's kind of like seeing who's a Real Marxit (tm) and who's not by examining how well they know the Sacred Texts. (this is just a joke, please don't be offended [1] but I am reminded of one of my first exchanges with Charles who kept insisting that I answer the question, "Are you are Marxist?" Smoochiez, Chazz! :p ) I could make up all sorts of stuff and claim that's what I'm involved in. There's no way of knowing.
Concerns about the Fedz are just silly. If you are that paranoid, stop using a full name and get throw-away web account and post away! You can also use just an email address and no corresponding from name. That way, when it's archived, the only thing that will show up is that it's authored by "lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org".
It also concerns me that there is a kind of Workerist ethos among those who do activist work. What I mean is the tendency to decry those who don't "get involved" or, relatedly, to complain about those who "merely" engage in activism on campus and don't sully themselves in the "real" world.
I have been more or less involved in something since I was sixteen. There are different points in one's life when it's simply easier to "get involved" and I don't think I can appreciate the claims (implicit or otherwise) that I've seen some folks make: If you _really_ cared, then you'd get involved and DO something. (Not saying that you're saying this, Carrol.) I'm reminded of the time a grad student union organizer complained that people just didn't get involved enough. If these damn grad students really cared about their own pocketbooks and working conditions, then they'd get involved. To him, this was a sign that people would do _nothing_ if they couldn't even get involved for their own self-interest. He showed me an e-mail from one student who felt overwhelmed by too many meetings. Well, the writer was from a town about 45 miles away from campus, so she had a two hour commute each day (perhaps more) and probably had a family. Living a long way off campus nearly always means you have burdens and obligations that a student on-campus doesn't have.
It seems to me that lefties tend to prefer structural anlayses, as opposed to individual analyses. Blaming individuals for not getting involved misses the point.
E.g., Since I moved in August, I haven't done a damn thing. I should have to explain to no one that moving to a house--one that needs TLC--takes up a lot of my time and I've chosen not to give myself an ulcer or worse by trying to fit in weekly candlelight vigils or postering or even keeping up with the news! There have been points in the past 5 years--e.g. right after 9/11--when I was working 70-90 hr weeks in an effort to get a project off the ground for work. I'd conceived it and wanted to give birth to it. I suppose folks could get on me, asking why I'm such a careerist or some such noise, but rilly?, if all a person can do is judge my life from their own subjective place in the world, then I invite that person to suck the two-inch long hair growing out of the mole on my left tit. :))
Kelley
[1] this brings to mind a childhood friend who's family was deeply into some sort of Baptist outfit. It was so bad that, when my dad took us to some state championship, she refused to eat Hardee's burgers b/c she said they'd been marinated in beer. Each week, I'd attend game night for youngsters. Eventually, her family angled for me to attend Bible Jeopardy. We sat down in the pews, everyone with their bible in the hand. The pastor read a quote from the bible and everyone frantically searched the pages looking for the quote so they could shout out, "What is Luke 16:11?"